


Burning from the Inside Out

by brunettachoppa687, TTICSY (phantomofthefandoms)



Series: Role Reverse AU [3]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Biting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non Consensual Biting, Vlad has big teeth, Vlad kinda has a panic attack, ghost hunger, mild description of violence, you would too if you just became a ghost...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 21:11:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4640376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunettachoppa687/pseuds/brunettachoppa687, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomofthefandoms/pseuds/TTICSY
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Danny came to the hospital the next morning, the second-floor welcoming desk was a blackened mess, there were Fentonworks staff dusting for ectoplasmic traces, and Vlad wasn’t in his usual room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burning from the Inside Out

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning that Vlad is not in a good place right now and this au consists of core mating and ghost hunger. Just a heads up!
> 
> Ghost Hunger: when ghosts need to feed on the energy of other ghosts, much like vampires.

 

When Danny came to the hospital the next morning, the second-floor welcoming desk was a blackened mess, there were Fentonworks staff dusting for ectoplasmic traces, and Vlad wasn’t in his usual room.

Danny blinked in confusion.  //What…?// he wondered.

After the Fentonworks staff proved rather ignorant about the whole situation, he quickly went back down to the main reception desk, fully intent on demanding answers.  But as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, Danny heard a familiar voice.

“Two staff injuries, an entire room burned down, and you put the kid in the MENTAL WARD?” a dark-skinned man demanded of the hesitant secretary.  “In a straightjacket?!  Honestly, do you know ANYTHING about overshadowing cases?”

Danny made his way over to him.  “Tucker?!”

Tucker glanced around.  A smile spread across his lips at the sight of his friend.  “Oh, hey, Danny!” he greeted.  “What’s crackin’?”

A few inches taller than Danny and built like a mechanic, Tucker Foley had become less of a one-line-slinging, so-called ladykiller and more of a practical individual.  He wasn’t dressed in a suit, like one would expect of someone of his position, but just a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, some worn-out, oil-stained jeans, and a pair of goggles strapped up on his head.  He wore contacts, not glasses like he had when he was in high school, and had grown up surprisingly handsome and big-boned.  Tucker was an inventor, a grease monkey, and a shut-in expert of the Ghost Zone and most of its inhabitants -- that is, until Phantom made ghost fighting a more glamorous occupation.  Then he quickly rose to the top of Fentonworks.  And Fentonworks -- within just the past ten years -- was on its way to becoming the FBI of ghost activity in the human world.

Tucker looked down at his clipboard.  “I’m just here about some fire-core that took over a patient.  It looks like everything’s peachy so far… well, aside from a broken rib and a couple burnt people bits.”

“Took over a-- Tuck…”  Danny franticly muttered, moving closer to his friend with panic in his eyes.  “That kid I told you about, the one that built the portal that exploded?  He’s HERE!  V-Vlad Masters, he was staying on the 3rd floor, room 308, was it him?!”  

Danny should have known, should have REALIZED.  He KNEW Vlad had been exposed to a lot of ecto-radiation and energy, OF COURSE he would have become susceptible to over-shadowing!  He should have thought of that, should have known to call Tucker in sooner!  

God, he was an IDIOT!

Danny gripped Tucker’s arm, already gearing to move past him, to confirm it all for himself.  “Tucker, was it him?!”

“Whoah whoah whoah, calm down, dude.”

Tucker held him back.  “Yeah, it was him,” he said calmly.  “Keep your hair on, alright?  I’ll take you to him.”

 

~*~

 

“By all accounts, it’s a basic foreshadowing.  It’s just that the ghost doing the deed isn’t very talkative.”

Tucker and Danny stood on the dark side of a one-way mirror, staring into the smoldering red eyes of its single inhabitant.  Vlad -- or what seemed to be Vlad -- shifted restlessly against the straps of the straightjacket they had put him in; the few lights in the room glared off the occasional flash of fangs between snarling lips, and his frightened, scarlet eyes which glowed like burning coals.  The room had been modified, the walls lined with heat-resistant foil and a miniature ghost containment field that shimmered in waves of green along the walls, floor, and ceiling.  

Tucker glanced down at his notes.  “I ran a few samples of its ecto-signature through the main lab and nothing turned up in the system, so the ghost is either extremely old or extremely new.  I’d say new, seeing how scared it’s acting.”

Danny rubbed his arms uneasily -- not because of the ghost, but who it was looking out from.  “Don’t you think you should bring him to the main lab, then?” the halfa asked.

“I thought about that, but the kid’s body is still under a lot of duress WITHOUT the overshadowing, not to mention the ghost has its claws pretty deep and it doesn’t want to leave.  Forcing it out might --”

“Cause some real damage to the host if it really doesn’t want to go…” Danny finished at a whisper.  “Yeah…”

Tucker glanced at the other man worriedly, but flipped through his clipboard to distract himself.  After a few minutes, he sighed and turned back to Danny.  “Look, dude, I know this is hard for you.  Valerie called me and told me…”

Danny shrunk in on himself.

Tucker hesitated… then looked over at the door.  “...Do you want to go talk to him?” he asked.  “See if you can’t get the little ghosty goo to migrate elsewhere?”

“I… I have to at least try…”

Danny walked past Tucker and into the containment room, eyes never once leaving the form of his young friend, curled in on himself on the floor.

“Apparently, I’m not the first one to talk to you,” Danny said softly as he approached, those red eyes watching him warily.  “But it’s not you I want to talk to.”

He knelt down so he was on eye level with the other.  “I want to talk to Vlad.  I know he’s in there, I know he can hear me.  He’s been through a lot already, and you are not helping him.  You’re scared, I know.  But if you just leave now, no one will stop you, no one will hurt you.  Just go back to where you came from, and leave Vlad alone…”

He didn’t get much of a response, but he had a feeling--just from the look in those eyes-- that it understood him.  Slowly, Danny reached up… and turned off the containment field.

The ghost’s red eyes widened.

Suddenly, behind Danny, Tucker opened the door.  “Dude?!” he exclaimed.  “Why’d you--?!”

The ghost hissed angrily and lunged at Tucker; the heat in the room suddenly skyrocketed as the president-to-be of Fentonworks yelped and slammed the door.  Before the ghost could get any further, two strong arms suddenly wrapped themselves around the younger man’s waist.  Danny held Vlad to his chest, ignoring the heat and the hissing and the screaming.  He closed his eyes with a grimace, hiding his glowing green irises, and with one slow breath…

Released his icy frost core.

Steam suddenly filled the room, fogging up the mirror as icy cold clashed with burning heat.  Danny shivered, causing him to frown in surprise as he found the heat… to be PLEASANT.  Danny didn’t feel much changes in temperature unless they were to the extreme, but THIS.  This was something else!  It coiled and sizzled over his skin, making him gasp and shake at the sensation…

After a split second, Danny managed to collect himself and force his core to expand, flooding Vlad’s body with the chill of his energy.  Danny had only met a few fire core ghosts like this one, and he had learned that his powers had the ability to drive away or calm them.  Considering how young this one was, he figured he could forcefully calm this ghost and drive the heat of it out of Vlad’s body.  “Hang on Vlad, I’m gonna bring you back to me.  Just hang on…”

The room quickly dropped in temperature as Danny’s chilling energy began to pour into him.  Vlad squirmed in the older man’s grip, eyes rolling in pain.  The fire scorching in his blood shrieked, flickering and trying to fight back against the more powerful chill… but the pressure built up, and like pulling the pin on a fire hydrant, the blockage was suddenly loose.  Vlad froze, shivering once violently -- eyes flickering back to blue -- then...

His head jerked back in a ghostly howl, loud at first, then sad and tapering.  “OOWWWAUHHhhhhhhh…!”

The flames struggled one last time, then were finally forced back down in a soft sizzle and a cloud of water vapor -- until the young man couldn’t even tell they were there anymore.  He felt… normal again.

A pathetic whimper of relief escaped Vlad’s chest.   “Oh god… thank you…!” he sobbed.

Hot tears streamed down deathly pale cheeks.  “I-It came out of nowhere!  I thought… I thought it was gonna…!”

Danny held Vlad to his chest tightly, staring over his head at Tucker through the glass.  He could tell the man was angry with his reckless move, but more than relieved to see the kid was okay.  Danny combed his fingers through Vlad’s silver white hair, making soothing, shushing noises as he rocked the crying young man gently.

“You’re okay now, Vlad, I got you.  You’re safe… you’re safe…”

Tentatively, without Vlad seeing or noticing, Danny’s eyes glowed green as he reached out with his senses, searching for any remaining traces of the ghost they thought had possessed him.  All he sensed were weak fragments, likely just lingering energy from its departure.  Or so he thought…

He looked back down at Vlad and winced when he saw he was still tied up in the straight jacket, pale and shaken.  He wasted no time in freeing him from the jacket, tossing it as far away from the two of them as possible, and rubbed his hands down the other’s back, still trying to calm his frayed nerves.  “Do you think you can stand?  I want to get you back to your room and checked over, you could be seriously hurt and we wouldn’t even know… Do you feel any pain?  Anything at all?”

Danny reached forward and held him again, releasing a shuddering sigh.  “God, Vlad, you had me so scared there…”

Vlad let out a half-terrified, half-disbelieving sound.  “YOU were scared?  Haha…!”

“Of course I was scared!”  Danny exclaimed, holding him tighter for just a moment.  “Ghost possession is terrifying and I’ve seen the damage it can cause and I would NEVER have wanted that to happen to you!  I’m so sorry, Vlad, I should have called Tucker sooner.  We might have been able to prevent this…”

The silver-haired boy sighed and rested his head wearily on Danny’s shoulder.  “It’s not like you would’ve known…”

Both of them glanced up as Tucker re-entered the room -- a little more cautious this time -- with a couple of doctors.  “Hey, Danny, mind if we take a look at him?” he asked.  Vlad blinked, unconsciously tightening his arms around Danny as the doctors came closer, trying to smile at the traumatized boy.  “He might have some kind of internal damage, and we need to put him through a few scans.”

“Right… of course…”

Danny looked down at Vlad, quickly realising how scared the younger man still was.  His expression morphed to something more determined, and he gave Vlad a reassuring smile.  He glanced back up at the doctors as he slowly helped Vlad stand up, holding his hand comfortingly.  “Do you mind if I stay?  He’s been through a pretty traumatizing experience and he knows me, I’m his friend.  Right, Vlad?”

He turned to him, grinning playfully and trying to lighten the mood.  “You know I won’t let any big bad ghosties get ya, right~?’

Vlad smiled back -- tired but bright.  “Not my cupcake!” he teased shakily.  “I’m safe around you.”

Danny’s head tilted back with a loud laugh.  “Never thought I’d miss one of those cheesy nicknames~!  Alright, doctors, lead the way!"

For the rest of the afternoon Vlad was checked over thoroughly, with Danny right by his side the whole way.  Luckily, there wasn’t that much damage done other then some bruising and strain.  Vlad would recover just fine.  Once they were back in Vlad’s hospital room, the younger man hopped in the shower to try and feel a bit better, leaving Danny to wait in the main part of the room.  Danny tidied up here and there, contemplating pulling out a game of chess…

“Hey, Vlad?”  he called.  “You want me to stay the night?  I could get some things from Tuck too, if they would make you feel better…”

In the shower, Vlad nearly slipped.  He scrambled, grabbed the side of the tub, and stared disbelievingly in the direction of Danny’s voice.  

“You… want to stay the night?”

Danny rolled his eyes.  “It’s not like I haven’t stayed a few nights here before.  The couch isn’t THAT bad and I would feel better knowing you’re not alone tonight.  Possession is… rough, and night terrors are a common side effect.  I want to be here for you!”

Vlad blinked, a hot flash of fear rippling through his body.  “...Night terrors…?” he called back.  “The heck are those?”

He coughed, trying to wave away the sudden thickening of the mist around him -- unaware that the temperature in the bathroom was steadily climbing.  He blinked away a sudden flash of darkness, dismissing it as a fainting spell; he was used to ignoring those.

“They’re like nightmares, Vlad.  It’s normal after living through such a scary experience.  It’s common to relive the experience or just the memory of the sensation at night, when your guard is down… trust me, they’re not fun, but they are manageable.”

Danny sighed, folding a stray shirt and placing it with Vlad’s other meager belongings.  “I’ve had my fair share, and it’s a lot easier to have someone there to wake you up and calm you down… It helps for them to…  pass, sooner.”

Vlad coughed again and got out of the shower, stumbling onto the tile floor.  The mist was just so THICK in here!  

He reached out to wipe the mirror.  What was going ON…?

“SWEET CRUSTED SUGAR!”

“Vlad?!”  Danny knocked loudly on the door, concerned.  “Are you okay?!”

“DON’T COME IN!” Vlad yelled.  His breath seized in his chest as he scrambled back, bloodred eyes wide at the sight of his skin -- blue as a gasoline flame and glowing with an eerie sheen.  He ran a hand through his black hair, panicked.  The fire had rekindled in his chest, but he couldn’t feel any sort of other BEING in him.  What…?!  What was going ON?!

“U-Uh, I-I think someone just flushed a toilet somewhere!” he called.  “Give it a sec--!”

Slipping and sliding back to the shower, Vlad’s mind spun a million miles an hour as he turned the spigot to full cold and ducked under the spray.  “Yeep!”

“Vlad??  Are you sure you’re alright?”  Danny tried the knob, worried.  It was locked though and he hesitated using his powers.  “Do I need to get a nurse or something?  Vlad?”

“No!  No no, don’t!  Haha, I’m just fine!”

The freezing spray felt like needles on his blue skin.  Vlad bit his lip, trying to ignore the LOUD sizzling the water made when it struck him.  This was nothing like the soft, quick rip of a band-aid that had happened down in the containment room; just a flash of pain and then pure relief.  No, this was like trying to remove sutures with a pair of dull pliers.  

Vlad sucked in a sharp breath and tried to spread himself out under the cold spray, muscles clenching in discomfort.  His skin was freezing but his insides felt like they were being COOKED!

“...Shhh…!  Okay, okay, call a nurse!!” he yelped, writhing in the tub.  “W-Wait, no!  Just… call your ghost expert friend!!  I don’t know wh-- OW!!”

An excruciating hot flash flared up in his chest.

Danny’s eyes widened, a flash of panic surging through him.  “Are you hurt?  Vlad, open the door!  No, wait, I’ll go get help, just hang on!”

Without a second thought Danny tore out of the room and down the hall, calling for a nurse or a doctor or anyone that could help.  He raced for the containment area, knowing Tucker should still be in the building SOMEWHERE!

He mashed the buttons of his phone, nearly breaking it in his haste.  “Come on, come on…”

 

~*~

Back in the hospital room, the steam was beginning to slip out from under the bathroom door, overflowing it with billowy waves of hot mist.  Vlad panted, lungs trying to work through the heat.  He could feel it -- his throat so hot that it was burning off the steam before it could even reach his lungs.  The young man groaned and looked up at the ceiling.  His eyes flickering between cobalt and blood red, he prayed to anything and everything that this would pass.  That this wasn’t permanent!  This wasn’t a HUMAN body!  He was… a ghost?  No, that was impossible!  That was stupid!  Unless he was dead!  But then where was his human body?!  This made no sense…!

Vlad clenched down on the burning core inside him.  He wouldn’t allow this to happen!  Whatever this THING was, he would NOT let it rule his body!  “This is MY LIFE…!” he snarled.  “Chill OUT!”

Suddenly, a glowing black ring flashed into existence at his waist.  

Vlad jerked in surprise.  Then, the ring split into two -- one coming up at his face and the other descending towards his feet.  He gasped and covered his face in a panic…!

There was a brief tingle of warmth… then he felt nothing but the pounding of cold water on his back, the ache of clenched teeth, and the warm, flickering pulse of his ghostly core.

Vlad swallowed, blue eyes blinking open.  

Slowly, he lowered his arms, staring at their familiar pale peach color, then running his hand through platinum silver hair.  “What…?” he whispered.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

“Vlad!”  Danny called, the sound of two or maybe three other people in the room joining him, filtering in past the pounding spray.  “Are you okay?!  Are you hurt?!”

“It’s very likely he experienced a waking terror.”  The words were muffled, but Vlad could just make out Tucker’s voice from the other side of the door.  “It’s rare, but not uncommon, much like a waking dream, or daydream.”

“Then he needs some real rest!  VLAD??”  Danny called again, knocking.  “Please, answer me!”

“Um, I’m here!”

Vlad swallowed, still staring at his hands.  “M-Mr. Foley?” he called.  “H-How realistic can those ‘waking terrors’ be…?”

“Just like any dream, kid,” Tucker explained, joining Danny by the door.  “They seem pretty real until you manage to snap out of it.  It’s like having a panic attack.  Is that what happened?  You okay now?  Like Danny said, it would be best to come out and try to sleep it off…"

“And maybe get looked over again!” Danny said fretfully.  “I mean, are you okay?  Did you hurt yourself?”

Vlad rubbed his fingertips together, eyes wide.  He could still almost SEE that strange, eerie blue color…

“No, I just… yeah.”

That had been real…

After a second, the young man stood up, turned off the shower, and grabbed a towel, rubbing his body quickly dry -- paying careful attention to that new, burning core inside of him.  He didn’t want to think about what might happen if it flared up again and he transformed into… whatever THAT THING was.

“I’m coming out.”

Vlad opened the door, keeping his eyes down as if he was embarrassed.  “Sorry about that,” he said, rubbing his head sheepishly.  “It startled me and I kinda panicked.  I’m okay now.”

Danny smiled, looking relieved but also deeply concerned.  “Come on, let’s let the nurse give you a quick check up while I go find us some food.  Then you can get some well deserved sleep, okay?”

“Okay…”

Danny patted him on the shoulder, giving it a squeeze and stayed to watch for a little while before leaving, making sure everything really WAS okay.  But still, even as he left knowing Vlad would be fine for the ten minutes he would be gone, he couldn’t help feeling like something was very, very wrong…

Vlad placidly complied with the doctor’s orders, letting them check his heart rate and pupil dilation; they noticed his heartbeat was faster than normal, but it was easy to pass that off as residual adrenaline when in reality, Vlad’s heart felt like it was either about to leap out of his throat or drop to the center of the earth.  He had done his research on the spectral plane before he had started serious work on the Masters portal, so he knew a bit more than the basics on ghost physiology.  They were almost like living, multicelled amoebas of ectoplasm, centered around a “core.”  The more powerful the ghost, the more potent the core, and usually based in an aspect or element.  If the portal explosion had made him some kind of… ghost HYBRID… this thing fluctuating in his chest…

It had to be his core.  

Vlad thought back to the last few days; if this theory was correct, a lot of things made sense!  His core -- a fire or heat core, likely -- had been trying to settle inside him, but until now it had been unstable.  That was why all these odd occurrences had been happening.  His core was trying to stabilize!  How fascinating… and horrifying.

“Alright, we’re all done.  He’s just fine for what he’s been through,” the doctor said, winding up her stethoscope.  “Now, you need lots of fluids and sleep!  You hear me, young man?”

Vlad nodded, still a little out of it.  “Yes, ma’am.”

Tucker, who had remained behind while Danny went to get the kid food, talked to the nurse briefly before turning back to Vlad.  He watched him silently for a moment, before cracking a teasing grin.  “So, you’re the dude that practically used to live in Danny’s little shop, huh?  Not that I can blame you, his coffee and treats are pretty much to die for~”

Vlad blinked up at him.  “Oh!  Uh, yeah.  Used to…”

He stared at the man, then offered his hand to shake it.  “I’m Vlad.  Vladimir Masters, I uh… haha!  Sorry about all… this,” he apologized.  “I think Danny gave you my resume and I’ve always wanted to meet you, sir, but I wish we weren’t meeting like this for the first time!”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, man!”  Tucker joked, waving away his apologies.  “As far as I’m concerned, you’re not a true paranormal investigator until you’ve been possessed a few times~  Just ask Danny, I’ve been possessed at LEAST three times now!”

The man laughed, moving to sit down in one of the guest chairs.  “But hey, I’m just glad you’re okay!  That’s what matters, right?  Anyway, Danny tells me you’re gonna be his new roommate for awhile.  Have fun with that, cause we BOTH know he’ll put you to work in that shop~  Well, at least until summer.”

“Summer?”  Vlad asked, confused and a little worried.  Tucker nodded, leaning back.  “Yeah, that’s when the paid internships start at Fentonworks.  He did tell you you got on the list right?  You start in June!”

“I-I DID?!  Are you serious, I--?!  Really?!”

Tucker laughed.  “Well, yeah man!  Your resume was impressive, and I’d be an idiot not to try and hire you on, college drop out or not!  Besides, that portal you made WAS impressive, even if it did blow up.  You got some serious talent kid, you’re smart!”

Vlad seemed to wilt a little bit.  “Oh.  Um, yeah.  Thanks…”

Tucker raised an eyebrow.  “Is something wrong?”

“Well… a lot of things, actually…” the silver-haired boy sighed, brows furrowed.  “Um… look, I--”

Vlad started to ask how much he’d be paid for the internship, then fell silent.  No matter how much he would earn with the internship, how was he supposed to work for an anti-ghost company the way he was?!  He had been dreaming about this kind of opportunity since middle school and now that it was being handed to him on a silver platter…

“It’s just the whole credit score thing,” he lied.  “I’m worried.”

Tucker shrugged.  “I’m sure it will all work out.  You know Danny will help in any way he can, you just gotta have faith that things will be okay.”

They both looked up when the door creaked open, Danny walking in with two trays of food.  He smiled lopsidedly.  “Sorry, its not much, but at least they had some decent looking mexican food today!”

He paused when he saw the expression on Vlad’s face, looking between the two of them curiously.  “Hey… what are you guys talking about?”

Vlad brightened a little when the dark-haired man entered the room, trying to put his worries at the back of his mind for the sake of Danny.  “Oh, uh, nothing,” he said, reaching out for the food.  “That looks delicious!  Did you get anything for yourself?”

“Naw, I’m not that hungry, just got myself a burrito.”  He handed the food over, still curious about what they must have been talking about, but let it slide.  “So, how are you feeling?”

“Um…”

Vlad tried to think of a good excuse for him to need to keep the temperature down; maybe if the air was cool his new core would stay under control.  It wouldn’t do to catch something on fire when he was sleeping.  Too many questions…

“I’m still feeling a little feverish, but you understand.  It comes with the territory…” Vlad replied, opening up his meal.

“Oh!  Well, it IS a little warm in here…”  Danny said with a small frown, looking thoughtful.  “I’ll talk to a nurse later about lowering the temperature in here and maybe we can open the window tonight?  Get you some fresh air while you sleep!”

Tucker gave Danny a curious look, biting into his bland taco.  “What, you staying?”

“Of course I’m staying,” Danny snapped, frowning at the other man.  “I want to be here in case something happens!”

“Alright, chill, man!  It’s probably a good idea actually, better safe than sorry,” Tucker agreed with a shrug, returning to his food.

Vlad ate in silence for a minute, trying to think of a way to find out more without giving himself away…

Finally, he swallowed a bite of burrito and looked up at Tucker.  “So, uh, you’re the to-be-president of Fentonworks… I hear that Phantom is on okay terms with you guys, or, you know.  Are you on good terms with any other ghosts?”

Danny blinked at the question, quickly stuffing his mouth with his own burrito before he said something he might regret later.  Tucker chuckled, enjoying the younger man’s curiosity.  “Yeah, we’re on good terms with Phantom, have been for years!  I guess you could say that, through him, we’ve made a few good allies.”

“Y-yeah?”

“Mhmm, there are the more powerful spirits, like the Time Keeper, Clockwork.  Also got Nocturne and Frostbite out there.  Nocturne use to be a bigger issue for us, but he’s mellowed out,” Tucker admitted with a shrug.  “Some of the others still like to cause us trouble, but since Phantom has made friends with a few, they’re getting easier to handle.”

Vlad nodded with a calculated precision, storing the information away about a “time keeper” for later.  “So… Phantom and Frostbite, they’re both ice cores?  Nocturne sounds like a darkness or dream core.  What do you know about other types of ghost cores?  Like electric or fire?”

“Ghost cores, huh?  That’s a tricky one, lets see…”  Tucker trailed off, thinking.  “Well, Ember is a heated core, not quite fire, but pretty close.  Her mate, Skulker, is an electric core, but it’s not that strong, not like Vortex.  Fire cores though…”

Tucker took another bite of his taco, contemplating.  “Honestly, true fire cores are rare, just like how Phantom’s frost core is a little unique.  The only one I’ve ever met is Queen Dora.  She’s a real fire core, and a dragon shapeshifter.”

Vlad nodded again, deciding to dive right in.  “And what about the ghost that possessed me?  What kind of signature did that have?” he asked.  This way they could take his questions as an attempt to keep the ghost from taking him again.  “It felt REALLY hot, and not in a good way.”

“Fire.”

Tucker glanced at Danny, surprised.  “Really?  You think so?  It was young though, wasn’t it?  And the only recorded fire cores are Dora and her brother!”

Danny steepled his fingers, looking away in thought.  “I met Dora before, remember?  I don’t know how I know, but that ghost felt a lot like her… young, but very powerful.  Whoever it was, they have the makings to become a spirit.  And they have a fire core.”

Tucker nodded, frowning.  “Well, looks like I’m going to need to talk to Phantom sometime soon then, see if he can find anything out…”

Vlad’s brows furrowed.  “The MAKINGS to become a spirit?” he repeated.  “There’s a difference between a ghost and a ‘spirit,’ then?  Is one more powerful and hard to control, or...”

Tucker nodded, smirking.  “Oh yeah, spirits are never born, they’re MADE.  Did you know that our town hero, little Phantom, is pretty much a spirit in training~?”

Danny flushed in embarrassment and quickly took another bite of his burrito, hiding it from Vlad while the younger man was enraptured with Tucker’s story.  “Really?!”

“Oh yeah, mentored by both Frostbite AND Clockwork, that guy is on his way to becoming… let’s see, what was it again Danny~?”

“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about…”

“Oh, now I remember!  The Peace Keeper~”

“ANYWAY!”  Danny cut in, looking a little frazzled.  “What he’s getting at, is that some ghosts have the potential to become something more.  Clockwork is the spirit of time, Nocturne is the spirit of dreams, so on and so forth.”

Vlad raised his brows.  “And Phantom is the keeper of peace?”

Tucker’s smile turned into something more fond, nostalgic.  “Yeah…  You see kid, it wasn’t just the humans that ghosts would attack, they would often attack THEMSELVES.  Territory wars, domestic disputes, TIMELINE destructions…  The Ghost Zone was a mess.  But when Phantom arrived, he changed all that.  He started to FIX things.  Not fight it out or go off picking sides, no.  He actually started to mend both their world, and ours.”

He leaned back, grinning.  “As far as I’m concerned, he’s earned that title as the keeper of peace, the SPIRIT of peace~”

Vlad’s eyes grew bright in awe as Tucker went on.  “Wow…!”

He leaned forward excitedly.  “Do you know him, sir?  Have you ever MET him?  I met him once in passing but it really wasn’t enough to talk to him or get an idea of what he’s like!  I really admire him!  Phantom’s one of the main reasons I looked into a career in paranormal science!  He’s incredible!”

Tucker’s smile got bigger and bigger while Danny’s face got redder and redder.  “Yeah, man, I know him.  He tends to work with Fentonworks a lot, in fact~”

He gave Danny a side glance, before grinning back at Vlad.  “Who knows, maybe you’ll get to meet him this summer when you come to work for me!  Don’t worry, he’s a really nice guy.  Pretty chill and laid back actually, like your normal, everyday dude!  Why, if you didn’t know any better, you’d almost think he was human~!”

“Tucker!”

“What~?  It’s true!”

“R-Really?!  That’d be great, I-- oh no, crud and cookies, let’s get back on the other subject, umm…”

Vlad rubbed his head, heart sinking a little as he remembered that little complication.  “Um… okay,” he said, glancing up at the two.  He let all his confusion and fear be seen; he would need it to pass off this question as harmless.  “You might think I’m crazy about this, but…”

He tapped his fingers along the wrapper of his burrito.  “During that waking terror… I think I saw the ghost that possessed me.  It was a guy, about my size and height.  He was wrapped up in what looked like WIRES--” he lied, thinking up a decent reason for the ghost to have possessed him.  “And he said… he said he wanted to talk to Phantom.”

Tucker frowned.  “Huh...”

The man looked at Danny, keeping his expression under control.  “Sounds like he died in an electrical accident recently, maybe possessed Vlad because he had just gone through similar trauma.  A young electrician or something?  Phantom might have been the first other ghost he encountered.  Stands to reason he’d want answers from yo--”

Tucker caught himself just in time, drawing the sound out.  “Yoooeeeeaaaah.  Yeah!  Yeah, HIM.  Phantom.”

He raised his brows at Vlad.  “Think the guy’s still around?”

Vlad glanced warily around, like he was suspicious of something watching him.  “Um… HERE, not really, but I feel like he’s kinda close by?  Maybe wandering around the hospital or outside…  I guess he could get here pretty quickly if he wanted to.”

Danny looked a little troubled.  “I don’t like the idea of this ghost just hanging around.  He might try to possess you again if he’s desperate.  He’s lost and alone and confused…”

He suddenly blinked, like he just realized something.  “Oh gosh, I can’t believe I forgot!  I’m supposed to meet with my publisher tonight about my next book!”

He stood up quickly, gathering his things.  He came over and hugged Vlad briefly, startling the younger man.  “I’m glad you’re alright, I want you to get some rest, okay?  I’ll be back later tonight!”

Danny then turned to Tucker, giving him a pointed look.  “You should contact Phantom, maybe he can take a look around while you see if there’re any leads back at Fentonworks.”

Tucker blinked at him, before his eyes widened in realization.  “Oh--OH!  Right, good idea, I’ll go do that now!”

Vlad stared between Tucker and Danny as they both gathered up their stuff.  “Wait, what?  I mean, you’re just taking off?  I mean, I don’t have a problem with that, but--”

He suddenly froze.  “Did you just say Phantom’s gonna be looking around here tonight?!”

Tucker nodded, pulling on his coat.  “Yeah, Danny’s got a point!  There’s not much more I can do here myself, but while I do some digging back at the office, Phantom can take a look around and see if this ghostly friend of yours comes out to say hello.”

“Everything will be fine, Vlad, you just get some sleep,” Danny said, smiling.  “I’ll be back in a few hours.  Maybe I can even bring you some real food later, okay?”

Vlad stared up at him, mind scrambling with this new information.  “O-Okay.”

The two men made sure he was in his bed and comfortable before they bid him farewell.  However, the young man felt like he was going to have an aneurism; it was a very good thing they were only keeping him on a fluid drip and heart monitor now.  At least Vlad could figure out how to shut off the drip and simulate the heartbeat on the machine… but now he had a bigger problem!  Sometime TONIGHT, Phantom himself was going to be coming around investigating for his ghost half -- if it was a HALF -- and Vlad had barely any idea how to get down there!

The young man spent the next hour thinking hard on how to get his core riled up again.  Eventually, his nurse stopped in for a final round before bedtime, took his temperature -- a few degrees above normal -- and then turned out the lights.

Vlad lay there in the quiet for a few minutes, just to be sure she was gone…

Then, he cast off the blankets and put his feet on the tile, allowing his core to flare against the chill.  He leaned up, figuring out quickly how to stop the drip without being detected.  The heart monitor was a bit more difficult to set… but soon enough, Vlad was pulling the clip off his finger and the machine peeped on.

The silver-haired boy walked to the center of the room and took a deep breath.  //Okay...// Vlad thought to himself.

He clenched his fists.  His fiery core flared up, hard.  //Here we go…!//

 

~*~

Danny waited till the cover of night before going back to the hospital, this time as Phantom.  It was dark out, most of the hospital residents fast asleep.  Phantom quietly flew from hall to hall, exploring the dark building in silence.  He could sense another ghost nearby, but it was… strange.  He just couldn’t get a hold of where it WAS.  After a while of this, Phantom flew outside to the hospital courtyard, frowning thoughtfully.

His snowy white hair and icy skin almost seemed to make him glow in the dark night, like a living star.  His green eyes scanned the gardens around him, bright like beacons.  He floated past a fountain, unknowingly freezing it solid as he remained lost in his thoughts.  He had been so HOPEFUL about finding this other ghost, but now…

“Where could he be…?”

Danny sighed and turned… then blinked.

A slightly glowing form -- tiny in the distance -- was just phasing in through the side of the hospital wall, from the outside.  A yellow hard-hat glinted in the moonlight.  

Phantom blinked and flew down.

Meanwhile, Vlad pulled at the worn disguise in the darkness of a hospital corridor, fidgeting in another man’s clothes.  The diner he had been working at had a construction site just next to it; he had cracked open a few boxes containing clothing spares with his new, uncanny strength and fished out some old overalls.  A hard-hat and one of his own workshop t-shirts later, he made a convincing “ghost of a telephone pole repairman.”  

Vlad fiddled with the clothes, trying not to burn holes in them on accident.  Normally he wouldn’t go so far with this charade… but he had to learn how to use these powers!  He could transform to and fro alright so far, but intangibility?  Flight?  He couldn’t even FLOAT!  Phantom might be some type of ice core, but he seemed like the most stable ghost to get the basics from.

It totally wasn’t because Phantom was his idol.  No way…

“Hello?”

Vlad yelped and whirled around, just in time to see Phantom phase through the wall, looking around curiously.  The ghost hero floated down the hall, Vlad ducking just out of his sight.  “I know I saw you come by this way.  Do you need help?” Phantom called.  “I heard about what happened here this morning…”

A stern frown crossed the hero’s face.  “That was a very foolish thing you did.  I understand you are young and likely afraid, but possessing that boy was dangerous, to him AND you.”

A moment of silence passed.  

Phantom sighed.  “I’m not going to hurt you!  I just want to talk, to help!  Won’t you come out?”

Vlad swallowed, shrinking in on himself and -- unknowingly -- turning invisible.  It was unnerving, not having a heartbeat to speed up.  At least he wouldn’t have to fake being confused and scared.

The young man inhaled… then exhaled, and came out from around the corner.  “H-Hello.”

Phantom blinked, squinting.  “Where are-- oh.”

Vlad glanced down at himself, yelped, and popped back into the visible spectrum.  He kept his blazing red eyes on the floor.  “Hello.”

Phantom smiled understandingly, floating a little closer.  “Hey there.  Still getting used to everything, huh?  I know it can be a little scary, and normally there would be others besides me that could help you, but…”

He frowned, looking a little troubled.  “Something bad must have happened, if you weren’t born in the Ghost Zone.  Do you remember how you died?  Or have you already forgotten?  It’s alright if you did!  Most gho-ah, most of us do…”

Vlad nodded as if shy -- which he didn’t have to try hard at -- keeping his eyes on the ground.  He had rehearsed this little lie.  “I remember the day that I… died, I guess.  I was just working on power lines.  It was my third day at work, but… I think I touched something wrong and the next thing I knew I was just… scared… and really, really hot...”

“Ah, death by electrocution… that would do it.”

Phantom’s white boots touched the ground softly, a thin layer of frost coating the floor under his feet.  He placed a hand on his chin in thought, green eyes staring at the other ghost in an almost unnerving fashion, studying him.  “Now, I’m not sure if there is much I COULD do to help.  I’m a frost core, a bit rarer than even a simple cold core and just as rare as yours, a fire core.  I can show you the basics, but as for the rest… hmm…”

He looked off to the side, in thought.  “Perhaps I could introduce you to Dora…”

“Dora?” Vlad asked, playing dumb.  “What’s different about her?  What kind of ghost is she?  What, uh, could she do to help me that you can’t?  Basics, you say?”

Phantom chuckled good naturedly, smiling.  “Curious one, aren’t you?  That’s alright, I was too when I was first… born, you could say.  Queen Dorothea rules the Old Lands and Territories of the Ghost Zone, after overthrowing her brother.  She’s a dragon shapeshifter, which may be a unique trait to fire core ghosts, or just her family in general, I’m not too sure.  If anyone could really help you, I’m sure she could.”

The older halfa came a little closer, slowly, trying not to startle the other ghost.  “As for the basics, that is actually something I could help you with.  Flight, invisibility, tangibility, the natural defensive and offensive skills every ghost has.”

He stopped, just a foot or so away.  “Do you remember your name?  Some do, some don’t, some prefer to forget and choose a new name.  I go by Phantom now, myself.”

“Um… I don’t remember.”

Vlad flinched at the pinch of his fangs against his tongue.  “Ouch…” he muttered, opening up his mouth a little to give them room.  “I’m gonna have to get used to these teeth…”

Phantom’s eyes widened slightly, unconsciously floating closer in interest.  “Oh, did your fangs grow in already?!  That’s so cool--UM, I mean… normally it takes a little longer for such… traits to come in…”

He grinned at the younger ghost, showing a small set of fangs he had not noticed before.  They weren’t very large, similar to a cat’s actually.  “Most ghosts have a primal side, and the size of one’s fangs can determine how powerful a ghost might become.  I’m a little on the strange side, since mine aren’t very big, but I still pack a punch.  Guess it’s ‘cause I’m not really meant for fighting, but for… fixing other’s messes, you could say~”

Phantom’s eyes darted back down to the ghost’s mouth, frowning when he winced again.  “Giving you trouble?  May I see?”

Vlad blushed a dark purple at the older ghost’s proximity.  “Um… okay…”

He opened his mouth wide, eyes fixed on a panel above Phantom’s head and trying to keep himself from fidgeting too much.  

Phantom wasn’t able to keep in the shocked little gasp as his eyes locked on the young ghost’s thick, elongated incisors.  “Holy crap…”

Holy crap was right!  Danny wasn’t sure he had ever seen such fangs on such a young ghost!  Hell, these were almost as large as Aragon’s had been, and that guy had been a powerful fire core ghost till his sister took him down.  In fact, Danny began to wonder if they were bigger than Dora’s were!  And she had DRAGON teeth for crying out loud!

Phantom suddenly flushed and floated back a ways, casting his wide eyes elsewhere as a swell of something… something dark and too animalistic for his taste surged in his chest.  What Danny had failed to mention, was that fangs to a ghost was pretty much the equivalent of… well… ENDOWMENT, one might say…

//Hot damn, this kid is gonna be POWERFUL…//

Vlad blinked at Phantom and closed his mouth.  “...Is something wrong with them?” he asked, suddenly anxious.  “I don’t--”

“N-naw, kid, nothing's wrong!”  Phantom reassured him quickly, smiling weakly.  “In fact… um… Aw, well, there really isn’t a better way to put this, so I’m just gonna say it.  Your fangs are huge and kinda perfect.  There.  Take that as you will.  And please don’t go flashing those around the Ghost Zone, you might get mobbed.”

The younger specter quickly clamped his lips shut, getting the jist of it.  “Oh.”

Phantom’s cheeks dusted jade green and he coughed to hide his embarrassment.  “OKAY, moving on…  Have you uh… ha, noticed anything else?”

“Well, ah…”

Now that he knew he was a powerful ghost -- it was odd, but Vlad was excited!  He tried to think of a way to phrase his next question.  “Alright, all ghosts aren’t as friendly as you, right?  Is there some way I can defend myself?” he asked eagerly.  He had a pretty good idea in theory how intangibility and invisibility worked, he just needed practice with those.  “Also, how do I fly?”  

Phantom nodded along with the kid’s questions, more than understanding his need to defend himself.  “Honestly, if you keep to yourself, you won’t have trouble.  But better safe then sorry, I agree.  But where to start…”

He thought for a moment, then grinned.  “Ah!  Shielding is tricky, but a useful skill!”

To demonstrate, he conjured up a bright, glittering green shield made out of pure ecto energy, a hint of frost appearing at the edges.  “It will take lots of practice, but just picture in your mind what you imagine a shield, for YOU, might be like.  Imagine nothing getting past it, nothing being able to hurt you.  With time, you will be able to create one of these.”

The shield faded, and was instead replaced with bright, glowing green ecto energy, pooling around his hand.  “Ecto energy is the center to all basic forms of defensive and offensive power.  Blasts, are the most common.  The best way to practice?  Get MAD.  An emotional response is the best trigger.  From there, you can practice control and how to bring it out of you with OTHER emotions, or no emotion at all.”

“So…”

Vlad looked down at his hands.  “All these powers are emotional -- or mental -- based.  Is it possible to create other kinds of blasts?  Like your ice?  Or do you just have to practice at that, too?”

“To be honest, kid, I think it can vary from ghost to ghost,” Phantom admitted.  “I’m a bit more… human, than the others, and my powers tend to rely a lot on my emotions.  I had to train pretty hard to get full control, but here’s a secret~”

Phantom leaned down a little, like he was sharing something private with the other ghost, grinning playfully.  “Confidence~”   

“H-huh?”

“If you believe you can do something, KNOW you can, and never once let doubt cross your mind?  Then you CAN do it.  Confidence is a big key to getting the hang of everything, trust me.”

Phantom leaned back, shrugging.  “As for the rest, you have to discover them for yourself.  Powers vary from ghost to ghost and it will just take experimentation and practice.”

Vlad nodded slowly.  “Hmmmm…”

He blinked, then glanced back up, meeting Phantom’s eyes for the first time since they began to speak.  The young man felt a tiny sprig of something dark, primal, coiling up in his belly.  

The older ghost was pale and beautiful…

Suddenly felt a powerful urge.  

Confidence, hm…

Something twisted cackled in the back of his brain.  //Why not~?  It’s not like he knows who you really are~// it sneered.  //Go ahead and do it~!//

Vlad cocked his head, red eyes soft and lidded.  That voice… it made a valid point...

Then… he grinned, showing his long, thick fangs... a warm red haze obscuring the corners of his vision.  His eyes locked on that long, ivory throat.  For some reason, he just felt the NEED… to get closer…

“Phantom~?” he purred.

Green eyes widened slightly and Phantom had the sudden urge to step back… or bare his neck, he wasn’t sure which.  He had never felt something like that before, something so… heavy and… Well, he didn’t KNOW what…

What WAS this kid?

He swallowed, tiny fangs suddenly feeling itchy in their gums for no real reason.  “Y-yes?”

Vlad reached up slightly, beckoning slowly -- moving as if in a trance.  His slit pupils dilated like a fascinated tiger, scarlet eyes glowing hungrily.  “C’mere…”

Phantom had a bad feeling about this all of the sudden, something in the back of his mind waving red flags and telling him to run and run NOW.  But he just… couldn’t move.  He didn’t approach the younger ghost like he commanded, although he DID feel the urge to do so… but still, he was rooted in place as he drew closer and closer…

“H-hey, are you… what--?”

A slender blue hand grabbed his wrist.  Another one grabbed the back of his neck.

Vlad leaned up, pecked Phantom on the lips, and then sunk his fangs deep into that beautiful, pulsing throat.  It felt natural to him, the sensation of venom sacs releasing pleasurable poison into his victim’s bloodstream, exchanging with cold green fluid that flowed down his parched throat -- like a glass of cold, dripping lemonade on a blazing summer afternoon.  It was absolutely DIVINE…

Phantom’s mouth opened in a silent scream, body locked up in the kid’s arms for a moment before suddenly going limp.  His green eyes stared blindly up at the ceiling, body shutting down to everything but pleasure as the younger ghost’s instincts went to work.

He should have seen it!  Should have KNOWN!  Hell, he suffered from the symptoms on rare occasions but he knew there were others, like Ember and Dora, and even FROSTBITE, who needed to feed on the energy of their fellow spirits or mates to survive.  

A type of… hunger, they called it.

But none had ever tried to feed on Phantom before, claiming his scent was too powerful for them, even when he offered.  They told him it had felt wrong, perhaps because he was a halfa…

But here this young ghost was, forcing him to submit and claiming his energy, MARKING him!

“S-sto--AH!!  You gotta--!  You CAN’T--HAH!”

//He’s so noisy~//

If he had been in his right state of mind, he would have leapt away and apologized fervently to his hero, but now Vlad listened to that twisted little voice and giggled along with it.  He covered Phantom’s mouth, silencing him and pouring even more venom into his system.  The younger ghost sucked down that delicious energy… so lovely and refreshing, just the right amount of tanginess and sweet and sour… he didn’t even understand why he NEEDED it but he did.  And as he swallowed more and more -- filling his belly -- he felt an amazing sense of clarity through that scarlet haze.  The world, his senses, were suddenly clearer than he had felt them in years.

Finally, Vlad removed his fangs from Phantom’s neck, gasping for air he forgot he didn’t need.  His slender blue hands released the frost core ghost and flew to his mouth.  Gently touching his tingling, ectoplasm-drenched fangs and slim, forked tongue… sighing in an almost orgasmic state of pleasure….

The moment the younger ghost released his hold on Phantom, his only support, he fell to the ground.  His limbs felt weighted and unusable, like warm jelly, and his head felt funny, heavy and light at the same time.  Pleasure sung through his veins, drugging him and blinding him to everything around him.  He lay there, moaning softly, head lulled to the side as green, glittering ectoplasm dripped and pooled under his snowy hair…

“Nnn…”

“Hahhh…” Vlad breathed, slowly opening his eyes.  His fingers trailed down to his neck and massaged it slowly… still basking in the cool pleasure that pooled in his belly…

Then, suddenly, his feet weren’t touching the ground anymore.

“Hmmm…?”

The younger ghost looked down, only to see that he was floating, a few inches off the cool hospital floor.  “Oh…” he murmured, smiling in his daze.  “So that’s how you fly… Hmmmm~”

Like a stray balloon, Vlad floated up through the ceiling… and vanished from sight.

For a long moment, Phantom wasn’t really aware of anything.  In fact, he didn’t even know that he had transformed back into Danny…

Or had been found by a nurse, passed out and bleeding, on the hospital floor.


End file.
